Saturday, January 10, 2009

Recent Examples of the Terrorist Mentality, Obama’s Trip

Written 15 July 08

Several recent events have illustrated the difference in the Islamic terrorist mindset and that of civilized society.

Last week, Israel conducted a prisoner swap with Hezbollah. In exchange for two of their soldiers who had been kidnapped, sparking the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Israel agreed to release several Hezbollah militants who had been tried and jailed for crimes against the Israeli’s.

Symbolic of the differences between civilized societies and Islamic terrorists is the fact that the terrorists were returned alive by the Israeli’s to Hezbollah, while the remains of the Israeli’s were returned in coffins.

One group exhibits human decency in the treatment of prisoners, one does not.

Another difference was revealed in the reception of the terrorists at home, especially the most despicable among them, Samir Kuntar.

Kuntar had been tried and convicted of infiltrating Israel in 1979 and killing several people, including a 4 year old girl. He killed her by bashing her head against a rock, and then with the butt of his rifle.

Kuntar received a red carpet hero’s welcome upon his return.

Compare that with the treatment of our own Marines who were simply suspected of criminal wrongdoing at Haditha, including the deaths of children.

The Marines were tried and convicted in the court of public opinion by our national news media, many liberals, and at least one Congressman long before actual charges were brought against them, simply for being suspected of offenses.

The terrorists celebrate the murder of small children, recognizing those who are guilty of such crimes as heroes. By comparison, we publicly humiliate, imprison, and send to trial those among us who are even suspected of such. We would rightly punish those who are guilty of murdering children, not treat them as heroes.

Yet another comparison comes with the discovery and identification of remains of the last two American soldiers captured in a May 2007 ambush in an Al Qaeda infested area of Iraq, while this week we started the war crimes trial of an Al Qaeda member.

When captured, our soldiers are summarily killed by terrorists, while we wrestle with the question of how to best and fairly proceed with the trials of suspected terrorists.

There is clearly a discrepancy between the value placed on human life by terrorists and the civilized world. Distinctions about basic human dignity and decency also exist. The disparities should remind us all of the mentality we face among those we oppose in this war against terrorism.

The vast divergence is also central to the left’s inability to grasp any meaningful way to combat the threat, which leads us to Barack Obama finally traveling to Iraq.

Since he had already proclaimed his plan for retreat regardless of conditions on the ground even before departing, the outing was purely symbolic in nature.

This was reaffirmed by the very little time he spent in country and the fact that he took Senator Hagel with him, both moves that were not going to open his eyes to a realistic assessment of the situation.

What’s ironic is the fact that had we followed Obama’s advice on the Surge, he would not have been able to go to Iraq or meet with its leaders.

Had we believed his arguments that the Surge wouldn’t work, proclamations that it wasn’t working when it clearly was, and continuing to deny the facts on the ground when it has, it’s quite likely that Al Qaeda would control much of the country, and Iran the rest.

Even the Washington Post editorial board (not known for its conservative nature) recently called him on the carpet for his inaccurate view of the present situation.

Had we followed his lead, we would probably be sitting around wondering what to do about the genocide and humanitarian crisis in Iraq, and doing so with all the ineptitude of our Democrat led Congress and its 9% approval rating.

The pronouncements and plans made for Iraq before getting any facts, the unwillingness to fight a tough fight, and inability to see a winning strategy when it’s staring him in the face are revelations not to be taken lightly about someone seeking to be our Commander in Chief.

Couple those attributes with the revelations this week about his immediate post 9/11 view of Islamic terrorists acting out because of ignorance and poverty, rather than religious zealotry and hatred (completely contrary to the true terrorist mindset as briefly illustrated above) show a complete lack of aptitude for the office.

About Me

I was a Major in the Marines (once a Marine, always a Marine) serving most of my active duty time in support of operations in Somalia, Bosnia, as well as a tour with an infantry battalion in Iraq. But now I'm living a busy, but comparatively quiet life in the middle of Nebraska. Because the center of gravity for the war on terror is in the U.S., not abroad, I feel it necessary to keep informing and motivating Americans to stay in the fight and not surrender. Through weekly columns in Nebraska newspapers, posting on other blogs, and now through my own blog I hope to encourage as many as possible to keep supporting our troops and persevere in this war on terror.